Digital Learning India 2008

July 29 -31 , 2008

Mrs. C. Vijayalakshmi

Department of Computer science and Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology – IIT Bombay

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Goals

Create a searchable repository of − Open source Web-based interactive animations for

teaching various concepts and technologies

Provide a platform for− Mentors (Teachers and experts in various domains) to

suggest ideas for animation− Developers (Students) to create content based on the

suggested ideas and guidance

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

The Facets

1. Contribution to Open Source

3. Curriculum and Teacher Support

2. Training Students

4. Adaptation of content

to local needs

5. Research Offshoots

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open Source -1

Existing Open Source Courseware

Course web pages:

– Made available by instructors in most universities

– Content may be text , web pages, slides etc.

Class videos:

– Made available for streaming and off - line access

– Example: IIT Bombay - www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/

OUR FOCUS  ANIMATION WITH USER INTERACTION  

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open Source -1

Applet Implementation

Evolution of content

− Mentors, Developers, Topic

Implementation Strategy of applets

− Design of Explanations, explorations, interactions

Software development

Evaluation and acceptance

Inclusion in repository

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open Source -1Applet Features

Animations – Six bar linkage, ATP synthesis

− Base technology – Java

Platform independent

− Interface with various types of media

Text, graphics, animations, multimedia

− User interactions with exploration element

− Self assessment

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open Source -2Scalable Collaborative Mechanism

Project OSCAR provides a portal for :

− Users who can be either Developers , Mentors − Collaborative animation development − Easy, cost effective and scalable solution− Collaboration with other institutes developing

similar Open Source content

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open Source -2Scalable Collaborative Mechanism - Developers/Mentors

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Contribution to Open source - 2Scalable Collaborative Mechanism –

Interactions on wiki

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Students as developers

A win win situation

− Short and Long term training for students − Projects ideal for undergraduate students − Suitable for B.E./M.C.A final year and

non-Computer Science majors also

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Curriculum and Teacher support

Curriculum

− Concepts from middle school to undergraduate level

− Concepts suggested by teachers

− Current focus eighth to tenth standard Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Teacher Support

− Explain the concepts effectively

− Value addition to text book content

− Can be used in class room teaching and for experiments in labs

− Relevant applets can be sequenced to generate courseware

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Adaptation of content 

Local language translation

Adapt content for resource constrained areas

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Research Offshoots

Building animation authoring tools

Developing courseware authoring tools

Developing effective search engines

Tool for translating content to local languages

Developing an independent learning system for students

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Conclusions

Students (200) – Responses to conversant and non-

conversant concepts

Concepts more clear,

Enables self-study and revision of topics,

Increase interest in subject

Exploring concepts and gaining more insight

Unanimous: Teacher's should include these tools to

enrich

learning and enhance our understanding

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Conclusions ..contd

Teachers (100) – Reflection on the usability and integration issues of the concept

Motivates and attracts students

Virtual effect helps in visualizing and understanding the

concepts

Encourage exploration and inquisitiveness

Applets and related resources

Improve the design and delivery of lessons

Increase student interest in the Subject

Increase aspiration to learn and achieve

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

Conclusions ..contd

Student developers

− Absorbed by renowned software industries

− Higher studies

Statistics on the portal

− 110 animations

− 14529 hits since January, 08

− More than 3000 downloads of applets

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

The Team

Prof-In-Charge

Web Development Team

Content team

Communications team

Developers

Mentors

Administration team

eIndia 2008: C.Vijayalakshmi

OSCAR Statistics

Area Level No. of animations

Avg. no. of downloads

Biology UG 2 354

Chemistry 8-10 1 77

Data structures and algorithms

11-12 1 8

Maths 8-12 31 1231

Mechanical simulations

UG 5 544

Networking UG/PG 28 1169

Physics 8-12 65 3120